Patient-oriented translational research in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) suffers from a lack of financial, institutional, and intellectual resources. The next generation of CAM researchers will benefit from the dedicated mentorship of experienced midcareer clinical investigators. This proposed K24 Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research will provide Bruce Barrett MD PhD with protected time to stabilize and expand his research program, and to extend mentorship to junior CAM researchers. Dr. Barrett plans to submit an application to NCCAM for a T32 NRSA Institutional Research Training Grant for the next application cycle (due January 25, 2011). This institutional training grant will allow the development of a CAM-targeted research training program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW SMPH). Dr. Barrett is a tenured Associate Professor at the UW SMPH, with a strong record of research, publication, teaching and mentoring. His K23 career development grant and two subsequent R01 research grants came from NCCAM. He currently leads the UW Primary Care Research Fellowship, with six post-doctoral training positions funded by a T32 NRSA from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The proposed K24 and T32 grants would be administered through the Department of Family Medicine (DFM). DFM and UW SMPH are among strongest and most successful of comparable departments and institutions. Dr. Barrett mentors junior faculty, post-doctoral fellows, resident physician, medical students and graduate students. Several of Dr. Barrett's mentees are currently engaged in CAM research. Funding of this grant would allow Dr. Barrett to solidify and expand his mentoring program, and to develop and submit a T32 application for an institutional training program in CAM research at UW SMPH DFM. Combined with existing resources and reputation, this would attract an increasing pool of the most qualified and promising future CAM researchers. With this grant Dr. Barrett would undertake substantive training opportunities to develop his knowledge, skills, and experience to enhance his ability to responsibly conduct patient oriented translational CAM research. The proposed research will build upon findings from previous research, especially two successful NCCAM-funded R01 studies. The overarching goal of the proposed specific research is to study potential influences of clinical interaction on subsequent illness outcomes. Projects will include: 1) development and validation of an interaction analysis approach to existing videotaped clinical behaviors, and 2) an innovative Bayesian mediation analysis approach to explain findings of recently completed R01 research. This proposed K24 grant would support a program of research in complementary, alternative and integrative medicine, an under-funded and under-represented area of medical research, and would support and facilitate the development of the next generation of CAM researchers. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research will support Bruce Barrett MD PhD in his quest to: 1) provide dedicated mentoring to promising young researchers with interest in complementary and alternative medicine, and 2) expand his research program. The specific research proposed would expand knowledge regarding the nature and impact of patient-oriented clinical interaction.